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Locked On Wolfpack - Daily Podcast On North Carolina State Athletics

GAME WEEK for NC State Football - 2024 Season just Days Away

GAME WEEK! Feels amazing to type that. In just 3 more days, NC State Football will begin their quest for greatness in 2024. As we saw with FSU going down, the ACC is up for grabs. It's time we rise up and take it. Year of the Wolf.

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Broadcast on:
27 Aug 2024
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GAME WEEK! Feels amazing to type that. In just 3 more days, NC State Football will begin their quest for greatness in 2024. As we saw with FSU going down, the ACC is up for grabs. It's time we rise up and take it. Year of the Wolf.

 

For your next listen, check out the Locked On College Football podcast!

From NIL deals to never ending conference realignment rumors, Spencer McLaughlin gets you ready for an exciting season on the gridiron! Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.

 

 

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Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

 

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Go to 5hourenergy.com and use promo code LOCKEDONCFB to receive 20% off your order. This offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions. The code is not good on subscription orders. Go to 5hourenergy.com today!

 

Ultimate GM

Ultimate College Football HC is a brand-new mobile game that is completely free, has no ads and 100% playable offline. Use the promo code LOCKEDONCFB, all caps, inside the game store to receive a free boost to your program. Begin your coaching legacy today!

 

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Head to FACTORMEALS.com/lockedoncollege50 and use code lockedoncollege50 to get 50% off your first box PLUS 20% off your next month while your subscription is active!

 

eBay Motors

From brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.

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[MUSIC PLAYING] It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. We waited nine months to say it. We are so officially back. It's game week. NC State Football, Western Carolina, this Thursday night, we got a lot to talk about between now and then. You are Lockdown Wolf Pack, your daily podcast on the NC State Wolf Pack, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Wolf Pack Nation? It's time to get locked in with Lockdown. Thanks for making Lockdown Wolf Pack your first listen each and every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team, every day. Today's Monday's sponsor is Ultimate College Football Head Coach. This is a brand new mobile game that's completely free, has no ads, and is 100% playable offline. Using the promo code locked on CFB and all caps, you can receive a free boost from the game store to add on to your program. Begin your coaching legacy today. Happy Monday to all, as always, I'm Grayson Boone, joined by former Wolf Pack defensive tackle Kenton Gibbs. Kenton, it is game week. We are here on Monday, and at the end of this week, NC State will have begun the 2024 season. As you can tell, we are extremely excited. It's no surprise that football season is our favorite season to cover on this program. And the college football season now officially back, we are hitting our stride. It is game week. We obviously have a lot to talk about between now and kickoff on Thursday night. I thought we'd start this week by talking about the ACC conference as a whole, and how wide open it truly is as we just witnessed a, a perceived contender lose out in Dublin, Ireland. At the hands of the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech, Florida State was the betting favorite to win the ACC conference. They had the best odds of any team in the ACC to get into the college football playoff. They go across the pond and they lose to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Kenton, how surprised were you to see Florida State, who is or who was at least the favorite in the ACC, go over there and lose? You know, I was shocked that they lost, but I was more shocked at how they lost, because the thing with me is when I look at this team, I say to myself, well, wait a minute, they are supposed to be a team that, they're supposed to be a team that's physical. Up front on both sides, that's where they were supposed to dominate. Everybody said, top five defensive line in the country, if not even higher than that, and yet zero sacks, three tackles for lost the entire game. What is this? Avatar the last airbender when the world needed the most, they vanished? No, you need to show up in this moment if you're going to be a Florida State team and thinks you're special. And to see the way that this thing went down, that was the surprise part. To see them get pushed around. I knew I anticipated DJU and those receivers were not going to be fully rolling to start this season off. That was the expectation, but my thought was they start off the season a little slowly so they can get that rhythm going while the run game carries them, low and behold on offense and defense, they were getting big boy. They were getting slapped upside the head and sent to the store, if you're from my neighborhood, you know what that means. So it was a very tough time. It was a very tough time for Florida State and the trenches, which exacerbated what was already an upset, a double digit dog winning outright. That's already rare enough. But to see them winning that way, my thought was if Georgia Tech is going to win it, they're going to win it because they turned it into a track meet on grass. And DJ just made a couple of plays that blew it. The receivers had a couple of crucial drops that ended up killing Florida State. That wasn't the case. Hanes came through the ball, I believe 16 times. Yeah, it wasn't many at all. Is Paul Johnson back in Atlanta? What's going on is the triple option back rolling to think that Hanes King wasn't the most important Hanes in this game is shocking, it is shocking. So I was shocked that Florida State lost, but I was more shocked at the way they lost, than how they lost because to have your perceived strength turned into your Achilles heel on a national stage in front of everybody, it's, you know, that's a tough one. Yeah, I'm right there with you. You know, I've been relatively high on Georgia Tech. Now I didn't think that they would win this game. I actually did pick them to beat us later in the season because I've taken note of what they've been building down there in Atlanta. They've been progressively improving. I think Hanes King is a lot better than people have realized. Again, I didn't think that they would win this game against Florida State, but I was shocked at the way in which they did. They pushed Florida State around for four quarters, and then ultimately took the game away at the very end. I was very impressed with what I saw out of Georgia Tech, talking about Jamal Hanes, he's a beast. He's gonna be a difficult task once we do see them in later on in November, but Georgia Tech, in a sense, proved me a little bit right, but I did not think that Florida State would go over there and embarrass themselves. And especially after the off season, all the chatter, all the confidence, realignment, we're too good for the ACC, yikes. That is about the worst look you could possibly imagine. So far in a week zero. The reason though I wanted to bring this up, it just kind of reiterates the idea that the ACC this year is wide open. It is wide open. And I had tweeted after Florida State had lost that the Clemson game for NC State in late September just got a little bit bigger. It feels like the window of opportunity for NC State just increased because Florida State is an ACC contender. When an ACC contender takes a conference loss in week zero, their margin for air in the conference is now zero. If they slip up again, they're more than likely not going to Charlotte at the end of the season. So Florida State is now already on thin ice. For NC State, you're looking at that Clemson game to start off your ACC calendar. If you can go down and beat Clemson, you are in the proverbial driver's seat of the conference, at least in my mind. Clemson, they have a little bit tougher ACC schedule than we do. We know Virginia Tech has a very soft ACC schedule, so to speak. You know, you have to factor in Miami, possibly Louisville. Many other teams still in the mix, but for NC State, I see this as a big opportunity to seize the moment. If Florida State stumbles in that fashion so early in the season, your odds both in betting and just physical odds to make it to Charlotte have both increased. And talk about Florida State being the favorite to enter this season. They now have these same odds as NC State to win the ACC Championship. I believe it is plus 550. We're talk. - Yeah, talk about it. - That now matters. That shows you that Vegas now has a lot less belief in Florida State than they did here just a week ago. So it's extremely significant for NC State to now seize the moment as we've talked about a lot, getting up for the big one, taking the big one, and just handling business as the season goes on. So the ACC, maybe even more so than we all predicted about a week ago, it is wide the hell open. In 2024. - You know, me and Donald both unlocked on ACC, we talked about this game, we've talked about the ACC at Nazium. And one thing that is clear, we were wrong about this game, but we were right about the fact that this is the most open the ACC has been in probably over a decade. - When you look back at every year, you could pinpoint who the champ was gonna be in the preseason. You could pinpoint the one or two teams that had a realistic shot in the preseason. There is no pinpointing this year. I am guaranteeing as sure as the sun rises on the east and sets on the west at this point, at least two of the top three teams in terms of betting out. We'll start the season off all in one, at least two. - Yep. - And with that in mind, I'm looking around and I'm saying to myself, wait a minute now, could this team be a team of destiny? But here's the deal, if I'm in C State, you've got to run a race like a race horse. You know what race horses have on when they run? Blinders. - Yep. - Yep, blinders. They can't see to the left, can't see to the right. They could feel the jockey saying, move. That's all they could feel. That's all this team should feel. That propulsion, that force, telling them, go win a championship, move it. Coach Keats, move it. DJ Brooks, DJ Horn, move it. It's NC State football's turn, because again, the window is there. This is not a non-applyable issue. Deshawn Watson, they're walking through that door. James Winston, they're walking through that door. Trevor Lawrence, they're walking through that door. Hell, since Kyle wouldn't get involved, Aaron Rodgers, they're walking through that door. You understand me, this is an ACC where the opportunity is there if NC State is proud for the moment. - And last point on the same topic, SMU also played in week zero. Was anybody impressed by their showing against last year's two in 10 Nevada team? No, narrowly escaped Nevada on the road. I think it was like a four or a five point win when they were in like the high 20s of that spread. Narrowly took that game on the road. So SMU was another team. They picked up a little bit of buzz, probably just because they're new in the conference, but I was extremely underwhelmed with the Mustangs as well. So it just hammers that point home. If you think NC State was out of it before this year ever began, you better think again. It is wide open for the taking here in 2024. - The thing that I found most interesting about the SMU Nevada game is which team do you feel worse for? Florida State or SMU, because Florida State was a team that their strength is supposed to be in the trenches and they struggled there. SMU was a team everybody knew coming into the year. They're going to struggle in the trenches against ACC opponents. They're struggling against them all the way. Grayson, how many yards do you think they rush for per rush in that game? - Yars per rush, I'm going to say something like three. - 2.9. - Ooh, P.U. - This, again, I believe in SMU to be a spoiler to certain teams down the stretch. I do not believe in them to be a contender throughout the season. I am telling you, I'm excited, and y'all can see, I am sweating from the excitement. This is palpable for me because I'm watching these teams play out and I'm saying to myself, if NC State is who we think they are, go ahead and book that trip to show. But if we turn out to be, hey, Grayson McCaw, Jordan Waters, Dora Rogers in the port, Justin Jolie in the portal and they lied, then that'll be one of the biggest moments that we look back at and say, the 2024 season is the one where we realize we will never get the goals that we want, because it was very clear we just were not ready for practice. - Speaking of making the Charlotte coming up next, we have another one in our first and 10 series talking about our run game. Stick with us after a quick word from our sponsors. Our first sponsor of the day is Ultimate College Football Head Coach. Locked on Wolfpack fans, we gotta take a minute and give you a heads up on a brand new mobile game that we think you're gonna love. In this amazing game and simulation, you get to step into the shoes of a head coach and lead your college football program to glory. Can you imagine actually being the head coach of NC State from recruiting players to hiring coaching staff to overseeing training camps and handling school scholarships, you control every crucial detail of your program. It's all in your hands. Will you be able to handle the pressure? Ultimate College Football Head Coach is completely free, no ads and is 100% playable offline. You can play on the go as you want and whenever you want to. Of course, we have a special offer for locked on Wolfpack fans. Use the promo code locked on CFB in all caps inside the game store to receive a free boost to your program. Make sure to take advantage of this perk as it will get your team off to a strong start. To download the game, just visit ultimate-cfb.com. You'll see it at the bottom of our screen or you can look it up on the app stores. Ultimate College Football Head Coach, begin your coaching legacy today. College Football is back and it's not too late to catch up before the season kicks off. SCC, ACC, Big 10 and Big 12, you can get it all from locked on stable of college experts by subscribing to the locked on college football podcast. Who has the chance to make the playoff? What team will cost chaos in their new conferences? Everything you need to know is all in one place. Be sure to follow and subscribe to the locked on college football podcast. Part of the locked on podcast network, your team, every day. Middle portion of our Monday show, now getting back into our first and 10 series, outlining the most important facets that NC State Football must hit on in order to reach the ACC Championship. Here on Monday, we're talking run game. We have set this goal to average 160 rushing yards per game. Now we found this to be relevant. Last season, we only averaged 156 and a half per game and you gotta remember that was heavily bolstered by the last three games of the season. At Wake Forest, we had 266 at Virginia Tech, 188 and then at home against the dirty foot club, we had 170. If you take those three games out, that average is much, much lower. We struggled to run the ball efficiently, nearly for the entire season. And a lot of that most of the time was Brendan Armstrong just tucking it and running to save an otherwise really bad situation. A lot of times I'm third and long. Early in the series, sometimes late in the series, just bailed us out out of a lot of bad situations using his legs. This year, it may look a little bit different. McCall can run, but he doesn't have that immediate propensity to take off like Armstrong did last year. So in saying this, we believe it is important for NC State's running backs to establish they reach at least 160 rush yards per game. So there was a study done on rushing yards and how they differ from passing yards in terms of absolute value. Like how often teams win or lose based on rushing yards and things along those lines. Basically, the study came to the conclusion that each one rushing yard, each one rushing yard is where three passing yards. I want you to take a second to think about it, right? So why is 160 so important for this team? Last year, the leading Russers, the leading Russers period were a quarterback and a receiver. That's just a factual statement. It was Brendan Armstrong, Casey immediately behind it. That cannot be, but that will not be this year either. The question is, how much can this run game get going? Because Robert did not, as one of those guys is very sensible. He doesn't believe that balance is 50% run, 50% pass. Balance is doing what you want, when you want, so that when you decide, hey, I want to run the ball a little pop for as much if not more than you would, a decent amount of the quick passing game, just without some of the risk. So with that in mind, I'm looking at this and I'm saying to myself, if this team can get to 160, that means that teams will be seeing a heavy dose of number seven coming right downhill, no frills, running somebody over. And in the words of one Peyton Wilson, run him over. That's what it's going to be a whole lot of if this team gets the 160 per game this year. - I had the number marked, but all of a sudden I can't find it. I believe that 156 and a half last year would have ranked 11th in the ACC in terms of rushing yards per game. That will not cut it this season. However, although 160 seems like a relatively smaller jump, I think that would have put us at seventh in the conference. Setting that is a minimal bar to hit here in 2024. I find that extremely important. And certainly with Jordan Waters and Kendra Grappayal, and hopefully some Hollywood smothers as well, you feel like you probably can push that number a lot more often than not. So that's why we preach that Jordan Waters is so important to the team in 2024. We haven't had a running back like Jordan Waters in quite some time. I would argue maybe even Matt Days, but I think Jordan Waters is much better than Matt Days was. I think Jordan Waters has an incredible strength. He has impeccable vision, which I think is very underrated in his game. I can't wait to see what Jordan Waters will do. I mean, more than likely he's gonna dice up Western on Thursday night, but once you get into the bigger name games, those are the games against Tennessee or on the road at Clemson. A guy like Jordan Waters is really an X factor in those types of situations. - I think that the best thing about Jordan Waters is the most underrated thing about Jordan Waters. It's his short area burst. Most people think about that in terms of juking. No, no, no, no. When he sees a hole and he bursts through it, he may not have the long speed of some of the fastest backs in the nation. It's fine. When he decides to burst and turn it on, he goes from zero to his fastest speed like that. There's not a gradual buildup where it's like, oh man, he's rolling. Oh, he's getting faster. Oh, he's getting, oh, he's pulling away now. He just, when he makes that decision to put that foot in the ground and cut that he's cutting. So, you know, I think that that's vitally important. I like to see Kendrick Raphael in year two when the game starts to slow down for him a little bit. And when you do want to think about a guy who has long speed, Hollywood Smothers, Duke Scott, anyone, two backs that from what I hear are absolute burners, especially Duke Scott, an even leaving type of guy. I am very intrigued to see what this running game turns out to be, because the reality is, while we talk about all the weapons, all the weapons, weapons galore, weapons, weapons, weapons, all these receivers, flexes, inside receivers, outside guys, we talk about all of them at Nazim. We talk about them so much that it feels like we forget about guys who are stars, who are bound to be, or would be stars if they're in other situations where they'd be the number one receiver. But the running game has to set the table for that. The running game has to be a viable threat, or else teams are gonna pin their ears back and say, listen, go get the quarterback. We'll play the run on the way to the quarterback. And if anything happens, we'll figure it out from there. But our goal, go get the quarterback, stop everything in the passing game, we'll be fine. If teams can say that, we may not be ready for prime time. This may not be the year. But if you can run the ball effectively, I have no doubt in my mind. Go ahead and book the ticket. Go ahead and gas up the RV. Go ahead and whatever you need to do, you know what I mean? For the real boozy folks, book your flight. I don't know why you would fly. It's like a 15 minute flight, those emissions, okay? Stop it. Y'all got us out here drinking through them little paper straws that you know, we're not gonna get to go into that right now. But in all seriousness, it's time for Charlotte that this team can run the ball effectively because again, when you balance out all of these weapons with that, you then, Grayson and I talk about it's a pick your poison situation a lot. But most passing defenses, if you are truly dedicated to stopping the pass, you can figure it out. If you are saying, hey, I'll let Grayson will call a B move with his legs. I'll let this team beat me on the ground. For the most part, in the ACC, you'll be okay if your offense can do enough. But I'm telling you, when you combine a run, that when you combine that running game into the pick your poison, that is a difference maker, because now you're messing with the safety, you're messing with the box count. That's a whole different ball game then. Which receiver do we double? Or who do we pay special attention to? - I think a lot of times we look at complimentary football as kind of like a defense and an offense dynamic. Sometimes complimentary football can be two facets of the same offense, and that is exactly what we're looking for this season. Part of the reason I was so surprised that we finished 5-0 in our last five games last year was that our offense was so incredibly one-dimensional for the majority of the year. We had our struggles running the ball, had our struggles passing the ball, and that one dimension very quickly became Casey Concepcion. The other defense is new. For NC State to beat us offensively, they're going to have to involve Casey Concepcion. And we still were able to do it enough that we finished with a five-game win streak. That was really impressive too. A lot of that credit obviously needs to go to Robert and I, but for this season, we can't afford to be one-dimensional. We need both the rushing attack and the air attack to be so balanced that the defense is out there on their heels with no idea with what they're about to see. That is what makes Casey Justin Jolie, Noah Rogers. That is what is going to make them so dangerous, because when you do have Robert and I on the sticks and he's calling the plays, when the defense has no idea what they need to be expecting there, good luck. Good frickin' walk. Stop in Casey with a head of steam in a ton of open space. Casey or whoever else, you can fill in the blank honestly with the way this often looks on paper, maybe even Jordan Waters. Good luck stopping these guys when Robert and I can perfectly scheme them into space and then wind them up and let them go. The running game is going to unlock so many doors. It will be vitally important that they can not only be effective, but we've set that minimal bar 160 at least per game. That will be championship level football. And coming up next to close out on our Monday show, we had a really interesting comment on Friday show, more on this after a quick word from our sponsors. Our second sponsor of the day is Five Hour Energy. Do you want to get in shape but you're having trouble staying motivated? Make Five Hour Energy Shots part of your lifestyle to get the energy boost that you need to get fit. We all know there's a lot of times where you just simply don't feel like going to the gym, but taking a Five Hour Energy Shot will give you that feeling and alertness that you need to get into the gym. With zero sugar and a convenient portable size, it's the perfect pick-me-up for getting stuff done. The Five Hour Energy website has flavors galore like watermelon, tropical burst, great berry, and so many more. There's a flavor for everyone, so you gotta make sure you try them all. On the site, you even have the option to build your own 12-pack or 24-pack. You choose the flavors and it's delivered right to your front door. If you go to fivehourenergy.com, that's the number five and then hourenergy.com, and get some Five Hour Energy product today, you can use promo code locked on CFB in all caps to receive 20% off your order. This offer is only valid from now until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions. The code is also not good on subscription orders, so be sure to go get your separate order today. Go to fivehourenergy.com. Last couple minutes of our Monday show, saw a really good comment on Friday show on YouTube, thought it was so good, in fact, that we would include it here today. So here it is on the screen now, it comes from Quailin. It says, "It's before the season, so we don't know fully how well the offense will work together, but on paper, I'm curious about Kenton's opinion on how we would gain plan for our offense coming from a defensive mind." Kenton, what do you got for us? - You know, I think the answer is often closer than you think, and the answer in this situation would be right down the hall. The defense that we currently run, the 335, is known as the Air Raid Killer for a reason, and I think that that would be the best defense against this offense because in essence, it challenges you and says, "Hey, if you can run the ball, good for you. More love to you, more power to you. I'm gonna put more small guys on the field who can cover more grass, and I'm gonna get the big guys off." The reality is a situation like ours, it's about, you know, getting, as Robert and I said last year, be relevant when your number is called. How do you call the most type of numbers possible? Be it the passing game, be it a lot of different types of things in terms of spreading defenses out? Well, how do you spread out a defense that already is naturally that? Already has three safeties on the field so that they can use two overhangs instead of one. And again, it's when you get rid of big guys on the field, your limitation becomes, "How do you stop the run?" But if I'm playing it, if I'm getting played at Red Sea State, I feel more comfortable saying, "Hey, Jordan, why does the offensive line "is gonna have to beat me?" They're saying, "You know what? "I'll take my chances with the carry columns over there. "I'll drop down one in the box and go, you know, "basically single high coverage, "meaning that you have one-on-one coverage across the board "with a safety that the only thing you can do "is get over the top if you lob one in there. "But if you fire one high to a guy like the carrier, "to a guy like Wesley Graps, "to a guy like Anderson, all of a sudden, "even Keenan Jackson, all of a sudden, "you're looking up and you're out." Wow, that's 6'4" guy just snatched it off my corner's head. So, you know, when you run a 335, it gives you the ability to play two and three high at a different level than most other defenses do. So that'd probably be what I would scheme up for offense. - Yeah, we were talking about this actually not too long ago, and we kind of came to the same conclusion that if we were trying to scheme against our own offense, I would force them to run the ball as often as possible. And talking about the struggles that we have had running the ball here in the last, I don't know, five to seven years, I would make NC State have to prove it against my defense. You know Grayson McCall and what he brings the table, they've revamped the wide receiver room. I would do my absolute best to try and take that away to the best of my ability. Make NC State prove to me that they can beat us on the ground repeatedly. That would be my defensive philosophy if I had to try and stop our offense. But that's not exactly an easy task here for this year's team. We do have so many weapons that it is on paper really, really hard to defend. And something I'm excited about, not only just for the season starting in general, but I want to see how other teams try to scheme for us, who they try and double up on, or what specifically they try and take away. I'm very interested to see how other teams are perceiving us this early in the year, but can't only talk about the defense. I think we should flip the script here. If we were an offensive coordinator and we had to game plan against Tony Gibson and our defense, how would you look to beat them? - I think Notre Dame put on a pretty good display in terms of schematically. Because I don't even think it was just like, oh Notre Dame just has exponentially better players. I just think that they play better schematically in terms of being pro-style, being very methodical, and going with some unbalanced sets to kind of throw off the count. And it really messed with our linebackers last year in terms of kind of distorting their count and guys not really shifting over our defense, being built in a way that they can't adjust to unbalance in a way that they should. I'd probably be my game plan right there. You know, I talk about the 335 as the air raid killer. There is no such thing as a perfect defense, nor perfect offense that does not exist. However, it's a lot like how people say there's no such thing as a perfect person, but you're perfect for me. There's no such thing as a perfect offense, perfect defense. But there's one that's perfect to defeat once you're going against. And the perfect one to defeat the 335, I'm coming down here with no frills. I don't wanna do the triple option or anything like that because even in that, it emphasizes like, oh, if your guys can make good decisions, you'll be fine, I guess. But in this situation, I want to be very assertive and aggressive and say, hey, we're gonna put two hats on this guy and climb to this one. Let's go forward, what say you boys? Because overwhelmingly, we have not seen many teams in the ACC who have ran pro style against this defense. Like that's just the reality because our linebacker has been so phenomenal over the past few years. But again, you know, that's the perfect one. If we're playing Batman, coming up with contingency plans to take down everybody in the justice league, this is my contingency plan for Tony Gibson. Hey buddy, we're gonna get real physical. We're gonna run some unbounce. Let's see how you deal with it. - I had two thoughts for this come to mind and both of which came to me watching that Florida State and Georgia Tech game. The Georgia Tech offense made me realize if I were to go against NC State, I would want to establish the run. I would want to be brute force in enforcing my run game because I think there are some questions about NC State's linebacker room. We've spent a lot of time talking about that. Kind of in the same sense, I would want to make them prove it that they're able to stop me on a consistent basis on the ground. Through the air, I know about Aiden White, probably not gonna press my luck with him. Brandon C say, although relatively inexperienced, he did play a little bit last year. He's gonna have to take a massive step up. So if I'm going to attack through the air, more than likely, I'm gonna be looking his way. But my second point is in what Haines King was able to do with his legs. And that's something we've seen a little bit against NC State last year. You look at Sam Hartman, was able to extend to play and then find a guy down the field. That killed us a couple of times. Avery Johnson in the pop-tarts ball, he killed us using his legs on the ground. We extend to play just long enough to find somebody out of position and then exploit it. Kyron Drones did it to us a little bit, same idea. If they can extend to play and continue to improvise, we've seen a couple breakdowns in our defense here recently. So if I have a relatively mobile quarterback, you may want to try and maximize that potential against Tony Gibson's defense. But again, that's a really hard defense to game plan for. Drake May, no success. Kate Clubnick, very minimal success against us. So Tony Gibson's defense is no slouch either. But if I were to try and break them, I would want a mobile quarterback and extensive use of my run game. That makes sense, that's establishing a run again. Like I said, it sets the table for our offense. It sets the table for any offense really. When you can run the ball effectively, it messes with people's heads. Marshawn Lynch, the poet that he is said that people don't like it when you run into their face over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. And that's a very true sentiment. A lot of people think that some safeties have bad eye discipline because they're bad players. No, it's human nature. If you have seen a large bat coming downhill at an accelerated rate, and your only hope is to get him before he builds up a full head of steam, what are you going to do when a run re pops your way? And there appears to be a hole there. You're going to attempt to go, oh no, wait a minute. This guy who's running behind me, I was supposed to be checking him. What just happened? You know, that's how it goes. So, you know, that, again, if I was planning on these, they're stopping these two units, that's how I would do it. But I want to make one thing clear. There is a certain element of KYP involved as well, right? Like these are, you know, just generic, ho, ho, ho. This is how we would do a type of thing. But your personnel is more important than anything else. Because if you don't have the personnel to go big boy and do all that, because most teams don't have that personnel. There are being less and less linemen that are trained in the tradition of, hey, you put your head right here, you put your head into his hip, we move this three-taker, four-eyed, and we climb to the lock. There are less and less linemen who are trained in doing that effectively and efficiently. Less and less tight ends that are in-line blockers. You're seeing less and less of that being the emphasis of football. So, you know, it's all about your personnel and what you have and kind of, you know, coming up with a game plan from there. But again, this is me and Grayson, just spitballing if we had a generic, you know, team that we were putting together on the off-season and our entire goal was to be in NC State. Those are the schemes we run. - That'll do it for us here on Monday. Again, it's game week. Monday was three days till kickoff. Tomorrow on Tuesday will be just two days till kickoff. Coming up the rest of this week, we'll be looking at Western Carolina. We will do our due diligence. We can't disrespect them even though they're an FCS opponent. We're gonna look at what they're bringing to the table, what they returned from last season, and what they will more than likely try and do against us on Thursday evening. We will see you all back here on Tuesday. Be sure to hit that like button, drop your comments down in the comment box and match that subscribe button if you have not already. We'll catch you all tomorrow. Until then, go pack. - Go pack. - A Prime members, you can listen to this locked on podcast ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. [MUSIC PLAYING]